Nonculture Diagnostics in Fungal Disease

Margaret V Powers-Fletcher; Kimberly E Hanson

doi:10.1016/j.idc.2015.10.005

Nonculture Diagnostics in Fungal Disease

Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2016 Mar;30(1):37-49. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2015.10.005.

Authors

Margaret V Powers-Fletcher¹, Kimberly E Hanson²

Affiliations

¹ ARUP Laboratories, 500 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Utah School of Medicine, 30 N 1900E, Room 4B319, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA; Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, 15 N Medical Drive East, Suite 1100, Salt Lake City, UT 84122, USA. Electronic address: kim.hanson@hsc.utah.edu.

PMID: 26897062
DOI: 10.1016/j.idc.2015.10.005

Abstract

Fungal diagnostics that utilize antibody, antigen or nucleic acid detection offer several advantages that supplement traditional culture-based methods. As a group, nonculture assays can help identify patients with invasive fungal infection (IFI) sooner than is possible with culture, are often more sensitive, and can be used to guide early interventions. Challenges associated with these techniques include the possibility for contamination or cross-reactivity as well as the potential for false negative tests. This review summarized the test characteristics and clinical utility of nonculture-based laboratory methods.

Keywords: Clinical mycology; Fungal antigen detection; Fungal serology; Laboratory diagnosis of invasive fungal infection; Molecular detection of fungi.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Fungal / isolation & purification
Antigens, Fungal / isolation & purification
Fungi / isolation & purification
Humans
Immunologic Techniques*
Immunologic Tests
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques*
Mycoses / diagnosis*
Mycoses / microbiology*

Substances

Antibodies, Fungal
Antigens, Fungal